Cave
by Strawwolf
Summary: Emma and Hook are trapped in a cave after heading out on an expedition for water. They try to escape on their own. Hijinks ensue. (Captain Swan)
1. Chapter 1

"We're not going to get out that way."

"What's that love?" Hook was busy trying to shift a giant boulder, but was having little to no luck, only managing to shift the rock a few inches. It was times like this where he sorely felt the loss of his hand, as the lack of it might doom them to remain trapped for some time to come.

"I said we're not going to get out that way." Emma sighed heavily and leaned against the cave wall. It had been a foolish idea and now they were paying for it. Fresh water was at a premium and they'd hoped the cave would yield at least one underground spring. Unfortunately for them they were now both trapped and weren't expected back for several hours.

Hook was still grunting and sweating, trying to move the group of boulders, with his efforts coming to naught. She stared at him, his face set firm, mouth frowning in frustration, hair disheveled.

"Care to lend a hand love or do you just care to watch?" He looked over at her with a smirk. She merely smiled and shook her head.

"We're going to have to wait for help. I told them we were coming up here. They'll have to look for us eventually." At least that was her hope. The fleet had only stopped for supplies and had plans to leave before nightfall. They were in haste and a delay of even a day would cause problems down the line. And Emma did not wish to be the cause of any delays.

Hook stood and leaned against the boulder he'd been trying to move, crossing his arms. He looked up at her through his bangs, his eyes exhibiting a come hither look.

"And what do you suggest we do while we wait for rescue?"

Emma rolled her eyes. Even in a burning building he'd be full of innuendos, doing his best to sidle up to her.

"We could try and find another way out." She motioned towards the back of the cave. "Then we won't be stuck here waiting for someone to move those," she nodded to the boulders. She made to walk off towards the back of the cave when she felt his hand around her wrist, his strong grip holding her in place. His voice close by her ear, whispering.

"Perhaps I would rather remain here."

She felt her breath catch, her face flush, and was only too grateful that she was facing away from him. She shook off his hand with some effort. "Suit yourself." They didn't have time to waste and every minute they did was an hour closer to sunset and a cold and dark climb down the mountain. That is if they ever got out of this cave.

She didn't need to turn around to know he was following her. She could hear his heavy boots methodically echoing behind her. With one hand pressed to the cave wall, the light grew steadily dimmer the further they walked from the entrance. Even now she had to squint to see. Several times she almost stumbled, but a steadying hand reached out to hold her elbow every time. She knew she shouldn't let the silence build up around them but she was too busy trying not to fall on her face to try and engage him in conversation.

When it finally came to the point where she couldn't see in front of her face, she slowed, uncertain of what lay before them. She flinched when she felt his fingers interlace with hers. His hand was warm and comforting, though she would never admit that to his face.

"I don't want to lose you Swan." He spoke softly, as if knowing she would question his motives. Her mouth settled into a grimace but she kept hold of his hand. She knew he meant the dark of the cave but what he said had larger implications. Implications she didn't want to think about.

Their progress had slowed. Every step was a mystery, a push into the void. But Emma was determined. The cave showed no sign of narrowing out, a good sign as far as she could tell. Her grip tightened on Hook as she pulled him along. He had been silent for some time, apparently satisfied with following her lead. She could hear the sound of their boots on the ground and tried to control her breathing. Because despite not being able to see, everything felt close. The cave wall, Hook, the air in the cave. She could feel that flicker of doubt growing in her core but she pushed it away. There was no time for doubts. But Hook had picked up on her unspoken worries.

"Swan we should turn back." He didn't sound worried but she knew he was. The further they walked into the cave without finding an entrance, the less likely they would be found. And there was no telling what lay before them. She turned to speak to him, only to have her foot fail to find the ground. She stumbled, pulling Hook with her as the two fell into cold water.

She'd lost hold of his hand in the fall and her leg had hit something on the way down. The water was so very cold, clutching at her skin like needles dipped in ice. Her first instinct was to gasp. She tried calling out but could barely draw breath. Instead her voice was thin and hollow and desperate.

"Hook!"


	2. Chapter 2

Emma battled with the current surrounding her to stay afloat. She'd lost track of Hook and couldn't navigate the underground river she'd fallen into. Sputtering she called out again for him before she was roughly knocked into the wall of the channel, her teeth clacking together, a sharp pain pulsing from the side of her head. All was dark with only the sound of rushing water around her.

Time seemed to stretch out before her like a thin line as she paddled haphazardly with her arms, occasionally bumping up against the walls, her injured leg all but useless. Now would have been a perfect time to use her magic, even if just for a light to see by but when she tried to concentrate she felt a sharp pinch in her skull. She gasped in pain, the shock pulling her under the cold water as her arms tensed up. It was only fear of drowning that pulled her to the surface where she coughed up what little she had swallowed. For a brief moment up felt like down and the threat of nausea burbled in the back of her throat.

_Okay bad idea._

Dizziness aside, Emma didn't have time to panic. She could feel the channel dipping every so often, pulling her further down into the mountain, sometimes at a rather steep angle. So instead she only concentrated on keeping her head above water. There was no evidence of a ceiling, but it wouldn't have mattered if it was ten inches or ten meters above her. It was too dark to even see her hand in front of her face and she wasn't about to risk injury trying to reach up and feel how close her head was to solid rock. What mattered was breathing because everything else was an unknown. She couldn't see, she was injured, lost, alone and the water was like ice. If she didn't get out of the water soon hypothermia was a distinct possibility and it was also likely that she had a concussion. But since there wasn't anything to be done about it, she just breathed and paddled and waited. Occasionally she would call out Hook's name and listen to the echo, hearing nothing in response. A small part in the back of her mind was alarmed at this but she forced herself to focus on facing downstream. Even if she couldn't see what was ahead, she'd rather face it head on than backwards.

And then after a long while of nothing but the gurgle and slap and rush of water, somewhere ahead she thought she saw a faint glow for a moment. It disappeared as she plunged over another dip in the channel, knocking her into the wall again, jarring her bad leg which felt more numb than hurt. She muttered a curse under her breath as the impact brought forth pain like a sharp bite. And the glow appeared again, further ahead of her. It was white and coming from the ceiling which she could now see was several feet above her head. As she floated past she saw the glow belonged to a strange plant attached to the ceiling with long tendrils that dipped into the water. More appeared in the distance, small and bright against the strata of the rock. She did her best to avoid the tendrils, wary of the strange plant, ducking and twisting, trying to hug the wall as she drifted past, the current having slowed significantly. As she drifted past the light bathed her skin in an eerie glow, revealing a myriad of small cuts and lacerations from being buffeted about. The river itself was a black void, cold and seemingly bottomless. If she hadn't been in danger she would have found the whole thing somewhat pretty. Stark but pretty.

As she stared at the strange plants that had likely never seen sunlight she looked ahead, only to panic when she saw the ceiling rapidly descending towards the water line ahead of her. Her breathing space was disappearing and there was no telling where the river went. So she scrabbled against the walls, trying to find a handhold, scraping her fingers along the sharp stone, her efforts growing ever more vigorous the closer she got to the ceiling. Soon enough everything began to get very close even with the lazy current. But the walls wept water, too slick to gain any purchase on. She cursed in frustration and only had time to take one large gulp of oxygen before she was sucked down beneath the water, not knowing when or if she would surface again. Again she was surrounded in darkness and was all but numb to the cold at this point, her leg having taken on an ache that was now bone deep. Her head pounded as she held her breath, arms pinioning forwards, fighting for every inch, hoping an air bubble would appear at any moment. Her lungs protested, her limbs heavy and stiff, she felt herself slowing down, giving in to the nothing that awaited her. In the moment when her throat started to burn like fire, the river gave way to a cavern, spitting her out into the space. Taking in deep lungful's of air she gazed around her, noting the area was lit by a hole in the ceiling, yielding bright daylight on a patch of water.

Another wave of dizziness took hold of her before she moved to float on her back. Her eyes stung from the water, her shoulders ached from all the swimming, her leg…She didn't want to think about her leg. She wasn't even sure if she could walk on it. Lost in thought at her next move she heard a voice shouting at her, breaking through her worried contemplation.

"Swan!"

Somewhere ahead of her she heard him, faint and echoing in the large chamber. Sluggishly she turned in the direction of the voice.

_Hook?_

"I'm over here!" She hoarsely cried, trying to swim towards where she thought he was, though her arms weren't much interested in responding. Instead she merely drifted, finally making out a dark silhouette on a tiny rock outcropping next to a wall. He splashed into the water towards her but his movements looked awkward.

"I was wondering when you were going to appear!" He swam up beside her, his words saying one thing, his tone another. His voice sounded shaky as if he was trying to convince himself.

"Turns out I was right behind you." She tried to smile and only managed a grimace. The pounding in her head was getting worse.

They slowly made their way to the outcropping and it was only when he awkwardly clambered up onto the rock did she notice that he'd dislocated his right arm. He turned and offered his hand as if nothing was wrong. Emma blatantly ignored the gesture, having dislocated her shoulder years ago. She knew better. So instead she clambered up after him, limbs stiff and slow to respond, a sure sign that hypothermia wasn't far behind.

He was pale, hair spiked up with water, eyes bright in the gloom. He made to brush his hand against the cut at her temple but winced before he could raise his arm any higher.

"Are you alright?"

"I've had worse," she tried grinning, only to find the taste of bile hanging at the back of her throat. She held her breath, closed her eyes and held a hand to the rock, steadying herself.

"Swan." He gave her a knowing look. There was no fooling him. He'd seen his fair share of injuries and Emma's while not severe, were of concern. She had a head wound and he pointedly looked down at the gash on her leg that was bleeding all over their resting place.

"I'm fine. You look terrible though."

He watched the water drip off her nose as she shivered slightly, trying to make light of their situation.

"We need to bind that." He pointed towards her leg. Emma didn't dare to look at it, having a fair idea of what it looked like. The good news was she didn't appear to have hit an artery and the cold water would have kept down any inflammation and slowed the bleeding. The bad news was it felt like dead weight. In fact her whole body felt like dead weight.

"With what?" It wasn't as if they'd been swept away with medical supplies.

Hook pulled his shirt out from his pants. With one side held between his teeth and the other in his hand, he made to rip off a strip. But when he pulled he let out a tight groan, his hand letting go of the fabric.

"Let me."

Emma took his shirt into her hands but her fingers wouldn't cooperate. She couldn't tighten her grip no matter how hard she tried. Huffing in frustration she tried again, her fingers slow and stiff. Hook laid a hand atop hers halting her fruitless efforts. Together they managed to rip off two strips of fabric but not without eliciting a cry of pain from him. He was panting when they were finished, eyes closed, head leaning back against the cavern wall.

Together they managed to tie a strip around her leg wound with Hook tying the knot tight to keep it from slipping and to staunch the blood flow. Bu when he made to tie the second strip on she shook her head.

"That's for your sling."

"Swan your injury is graver than mine."

Emma rolled her eyes. Without the use of his arm and hand he was vulnerable. She wasn't going to risk exacerbating the injury. So instead she took the fabric strip from him and leaned over, tying it around his neck before gingerly easing his arm into it. He frowned in frustration at her stubbornness. They both leaned against the cavern wall, wet, cold and starting to shiver.

"So what now?" She looked over at Hook.

"I don't know. The only exit I see out of here is that." He pointed towards the hole in the ceiling. Emma sighed. They were trapped.


	3. Chapter 3

For a moment or two they simply sat next to one another, dripping and silent, the only sound coming from their heavy gulps of air and the water rushing into the cavern. Emma was doing her best not to shiver, clenching her hands, her fingers feeling overlarge and clumsy, her skin clammy and numb. Occasionally she wiped her brow, blood smearing on the back of her hand. Her leg though was of more concern. A trail of red dribbled down towards the water and no matter how she sat she couldn't seem to relieve the ache coming from the bound cut.

A quick glance over at Hook told her he was faring no better. His face was pale enough to appear bloodless and jaw clenched shut in pain. She could hear the hitch in his breath every time he inhaled. He'd tried to downplay his arm but the way in which he tried to remain motionless betrayed the truth.

"I can probably pop that back in for you."

Where normally he would have raised a brow and looked her in the eye, instead he merely grunted.

"Pardon Swan? You want to pop what where?" The line lacked his usual sly undertone of innuendo, sounding strained and small.

"Your arm. I can pop it back in its socket."

He sighed. "And how do you plan on accomplishing this when you're hampered by your own injuries?"

Emma frowned. "I can't do anything about my leg right now but I can fix your shoulder alright?"

He looked over to her before acquiescing with a slight nod. "Very well." He gingerly pulled off the sling and held out his arm.

Emma shimmied over, gritting her teeth as every move caused a spike of pain to roll up her leg. She took hold of his arm, hoping that she could maintain her grip, what with his soaking wet shirt. She didn't want to have to attempt this twice for both their sakes.

"Alright just lie down." She helped him onto his back, a small feat considering their injured states and the size of the outcropping they were occupying. He made no noise but the strain in his face was visible. "This might hurt," she warned. "Just tell me when you're ready."

He bit back a weak grin. "You know me Swan, always up for a-agh!" She slowly pulled his arm up past his shoulder until she felt it give, sliding back into place where it belonged. He panted in short breaths, eyes shut tight as she pulled him back up and retied his sling, cinching it to his torso, ensuring his hook was pointed away from him. He looked worse, even ill, but at least now his arm would simply be sore instead of useless. He reached up to touch his shoulder, trying to soothe the pain by slowly rubbing circles into his skin.

"There we go. One problem solved." She couldn't help shivering now, the movement doing little if anything to help how cold she felt. And she couldn't even curl up to conserve heat with her mangled leg. The wound on her forehead had dried, feeling tight to her skin but she could hardly feel it from the headache still beating out its rhythm against her skull.

Glancing over at Hook she noticed he wasn't shivering. At least not like she was, from tip to toe. He may have been quieter than usual but apart from his shoulder and being soaking wet he appeared to be faring better than her.

"How come you aren't cold?" She frowned, tucking her hands under her arms, ignoring the constant drip of water off the tip of her nose.

He looked over and grinned. "I'm not quite sure. Perhaps I just run warm. Care to find out?"

Emma rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling. It seemed he wasn't as poor in spirit as she thought if he could crack jokes. "We're both soaking wet. I doubt huddling together would help." She tilted her head, staring down at the rock they were sitting on. "Although…"

She held out her hand and concentrated, tensing up and holding her breath when nothing happened. Force wasn't the best way cast a spell but she didn't have much choice. If they didn't warm up soon it wouldn't matter that they were trapped. For a moment sparks formed above her hand; small bursts of heat warmed her clammy skin but they soon fizzled, leaving her nauseous and panting. Taking a few steadying breaths she decided to set aside the idea of using magic for the moment.

He hadn't said anything, only raised an eyebrow as she struggled and failed, instead choosing to turn and grab her hand, lightly squeezing it, reassuring her in his own way.

Emma glanced around the cavern. It was wide and probably deep. Steep-sided walls prominently displayed rock strata that flowed in wavy layers around them. And there was no avenue provided to climb to the hole in the roof. The patch of light shining down in the water had moved, displaying the unrelenting progress of the sun across the sky. If they weren't able to escape soon they would have to stay the night. There was no use trying to find their way out in the dark. It was after all how they'd gotten into this mess in the first place.

"We need to find the exit."

Hook followed the direction of her gaze. "And how exactly do you know there **is** an exit love?"

Emma scanned the perimeter, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. "If there was no outflow then this place would be completely filled. It has to be going somewhere; we just need to find it."

Hook frowned, his hand still enclosing her own. He could feel her shaking; the tremors vibrating from her body down through her hands. "I suppose that would require getting back into the water yes?"

Emma nodded. "Unfortunately. I can't see anything from here but there must be some passage underwater."

"Then you best wait here."

Emma gave him an incredulous look. "What? No. You've got one good arm. You'll need both if you plan to swim the perimeter."

"And you've got one good leg and a battered head love. I don't see how you're any more qualified to do this."

Emma pulled out of his grasp. "We aren't going to agree on this are we?"

He shook his head. "I agree that one of us needs to get back in the water. Just not who it should be."

"Ro-sham-bo?" Emma held out her hand in a fist.

"Pardon?" He looked at her in confusion.

"Rock-paper-scissors." The full name didn't clear anything up so Emma spent the next five minutes doing her best to explain, with Hook wearing a confused look while she showed him the hand signals for all three options. He captured her hand in his while she tried to demonstrate how rock crushed scissors.

"Swan I'm not leaving our fate up chance."

"Then I guess we're both going out there." She tried to squeeze his hand back but the numbness had set in a while ago.

"I suppose so." He slowly edged towards the water, softly slipping off the rock outcropping as Emma followed him.

The shock of the cold water had them fighting for breath in the first few minutes, treading water before swimming to the wall nearest them. Both clung to the rock, searching for any weaknesses, any way that would allow them to escape.

But the search itself was draining and soon enough they both found themselves sluggishly dragging their bodies along the wall, halfheartedly searching as the light slowly began to fade from the cavern. By the time they'd made it halfway around, Emma knew she was in trouble. Her headache was making it hard to concentrate, leaving her dizzy when she moved too quickly. She did her best to hide the fact that she couldn't always see straight, preferring instead to feel around in the water with her good foot for an opening that would deliver them to the outside.

Hook grimaced as he saw Emma slip in the water, flailing every few minutes when she lost a handhold. And instead of suggesting they return to the rock he merely strayed closer in case he needed to grab hold of her. She likely wouldn't listen to reason anyway and he had no means of convincing her to alter her plans. He winced as he bumped his shoulder, forcing himself to swallow the myriad of curses threatening to burst forth from his tongue.

In that moment Emma slipped below the surface again but didn't emerge. His eyes grew wide as he let go of the wall and ducked down beneath the water, searching, grasping in the dark, his movements becoming ever more frantic when he couldn't find her. He considered diving to the bottom when his hand brushed against what could only have been her long blonde locks. He reached lower, gripping tight to what he imagined was her collar, and yanked hard. They both popped to the surface like corks, with her coughing up what she had apparently swallowed. Hook steered them towards the wall with Emma clinging to his neck.

"I think," she started coughing again, long rattling wheezes that left her breathless and dizzy. "I think I found our way out."

"It appears you have." His voice was flat, his look grim over what had almost happened.

"We'll have to risk it. I just hope we don't have to hold our breaths for too long." She could feel her strength slipping away; what little she could feel of her limbs ached with a bone deep chill. "Now we just have to figure who goes first." She looked over at him, a sad smile on her face, hoping she wouldn't have to fight him on this too.

Hook shook his head and her face fell. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him, leaning down to speak in her ear, his voice stern and halfway angry.

"I lost you once Swan. I'm not letting it happen again. We either go together or not at all."

Emma pulled back to look him in the eye, startled. But she nodded all the same and held tight to him. Together they took a deep breath and dove beneath the water, letting the current pull them into darkness once again.


End file.
